By Reuben Abati

Two momentous events occurred in Thailand recently which ought to provide useful lessons for Nigeria. Former Prime Minister of Thailand, 2001 - 2006, Thaksin Shinawatra was sentenced by the Supreme Court of Thailand for Political Office Holders, to two years in prison for abuse of office, (awarding state contracts and assets to himself and his wife). Thaksin ran away to England in 2006 following his ouster in a coup plot on September 19, 2006. The reason given for his removal was simply corruption, an issue that was investigated and confirmed by the Thai Assets Investigation Committee. Thaksin himself would confirm the findings of this committee, perhaps unwittingly, when in exile, he bought the English Football club, Manchester City for a whopping sum of 168 million pounds. He later sold the club to an Arab money bag.

Second, the protests that attended the December 2007 elections that brought Sumak Sundaravej, to power as Prime Minister were brought to a close last week when the Thai Constitutional Court found the ruling coalition parties guilty of electoral fraud. Sumak Sundaravej had been removed from power much earlier in the year, he lasted only eight months, his successor, Samchai Wangsawat, another Thaksin protege lasted three months, with his removal on December 2, by the Constitutional court. The Court further ruled that he and the leaders of two government coalition parties have now been banned from politics for the next five years. Three coalition political parties, the PPP, Chat Thai and the Matchima Thaipataya, have also been disbanded.

The travails of the PPP and of Sumak and Samchai, his successor, have been traced to the fact that they still have strong links with the former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinatwara, whose ex-wife, Pojaman Damapong has now returned to the country, after a month-long absence, in what looks like a show of braggadocio. The disbanded political parties are now forming new parties and coalitions as Thailand searches for a new Prime Minister, Thaksin is practically on the run. Last month, the United Kingdom revoked his visa. He is now said to be in Dubai. But the key issue to be underlined here, is how the Thai, the South East Asian people of "the Land of Freedom" have shown that corruption cannot be tolerated and that the contrived fact of high office or successful fraud are no guarantees of any immunity from the law. This is where Nigeria comes into the picture. What has happened in Thailand appears impossible in Nigeria and this is a reflection of the kind of country that we are.

While Thailand is strengthening its institutions for fighting corruption and the Thai judiciary is upholding the rule of law, Nigeria is showing complete lack of seriousness in the same regard. The country's former anti-corruption czar, Nuhu Ribadu is under so much assault and facing heavy harassment from both known and shadowy forces that he has now had to go underground to protect himself from assassins who are said to be hot on his trail. A former Prime Minister has been convicted for corruption in Thailand. In Nigeria, there is no former President or Governor or Deputy Governor, between 1999 and 2007 who has been convicted, jailed or sanctioned for corruption, except perhaps former Bayelsa state Governor, Diepreye Alamiyeseigha but even he is in the process of rehabilitation. He insists that he is a victim of political vendetta. He is a very close friend of the present government where his former Deputy, who still calls him oga is the Vice President. Thaksin ran a company, Shinawatra and Co, which evaded tax, did government contracts, and bought government land. In Nigeria, government officials do worse things.

It is taken for granted around here that when a man is in government, he can award all the contracts to himself and his agents, inflate the value of the contracts and collect kickbacks. The Code of Conduct for Public Officials talks about conflict of interest in Nigeria as it does in Thailand, but here Public officials brazenly set up businesses and run other concerns which conflict with their assignment as public officials. Between 1999 and 2007, we had a President who awarded agricultural loans and aid to his own farm, he used the platform of the Presidency to raise funds publicly for his own private use, he even bought shares through a third party in a publicly owned company whose establishment he superintended. In the states, many of the Governors were part-time contractors, awarding to themselves, contracts that came to their tables for approval. Many of them set up businesses: telephone companies, media houses, built houses, acquired properties abroad, one Governor even obtained an undergraduate degree as a full-time student while serving as a full-time Governor: the looting was so obvious it became common knowledge that in Nigeria, public office is meant for self-enrichment.

But all of these thieving officials could not be brought before the law, because one, the fight against corruption in Nigeria is targeted only at those who may have fallen out of favour with the powers in charge at a particular moment. The anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria is not a mechanism for enforcing the rule of law and strengthening institutions but for punishing political enemies. At a stage that was what former President Olusegun Obasanjo reduced it to, and this is part of the reason why Ribadu is being hounded by those he offended while serving as EFCC Chairman.. The second and perhaps more critical reason is the immunity that certain categories of public officials enjoy. Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution states as follows: "the state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power". The tragedy of the Nigerian situation is that the state itself encourages corruption. And the 1999 Constitution on the question of corruption seems to create sacred cows through Section 308 where it protects the President, the Vice President, state Governors and their Deputies from prosecution while they are in office. What we have seen is that this has been taken as a license for impunity by the affected officials.

It took the intervention of the inimitable Gani Fawehinmi to establish the point in law that Section 308 does not preclude the investigation of these same officers while they are in office. When they leave office, they can be made to answer to charges and the outcomes of previous investigations. This is the import of Gani Fawehinmi v. IGP (2002) 7 NWLR (pt 767), 606. By May 2007, Niuhu Ribadu, the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, had announced that he had files on a total of 31 Governors, who would need to be tried for corruption after leaving office. Today, those files cannot be traced. They are said to be missing. Ribadu's successor, Mrs Farida Waziri also recently disclosed that the EFCC has no case against former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Some aggrieved stakeholders immediately furnished the EFCC with a petition detailing a number of allegations of corrupt practices by the former President. It is most unlikely that the EFCC will act on that petition. In the states, all the former Governors who were accused of corruption are all walking free. They are being rewarded with contracts, bigger appointments and national honours. Officially, Nigeria was ruled by saints between 1999 and 2007.

The Constitutional Court in Thailand disbanded three political parties and sent the Prime Minister out of office. Some of the political leaders, those who perpetrated political fraud have been banned from politics for five years! The judiciary in Nigeria has received both knocks and praises for its interventions in addressing electoral fraud, but definitely, Nigerians would like to see election riggers punished for their sins. If this were Thailand, many Nigerian politicians will be banned not for five years but for life! The PDP will be disbanded and its members will be warned to stay away from politics or risk jail terms. What we have instead, is a funny situation where the architects of electoral fraud are being praised to high heavens. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Aliyu Babangida of Niger State have both said that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Maurice Iwu, is a genius, a patriot and the best election organiser in Nigerian history. One of these days, Maurice Iwu will be given the GCFR. In Thailand, his INEC would have been disbanded and he too would have been banned from going near any polling booth or collation centre for life!

The courts of Thailand may have given progressive rulings, but there is also something about values and leadership in all of these. Thailand is a Constitutional monarchy. But HRM Bhuanbort Adulyadej, who has been in power for more than 50 years and who is so loved by his people that his having a sore throat and fever, ahead of his 81st birthday, made the headlines in Thai newspapers in the last two days, refused to intervene. Even the military toed the same line by asking the Prime Minister, long before the court ruling, to form a new government. In Nigeria, traditional rulers would have issued a statement of solidarity, supporting the government of the day. The military would also have weighed in on the side of the ruling government. In the 2007 elections, there were so many soldiers on the streets of Nigeria, helping the PDP to consolidate its hold on Nigeria.

The bigger battle was on the streets of Thailand, where the opposition party, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) waged war against the ruling government. The PAD took over the streets, the Government House compound and the Suvarrnabhumi and Don Mueang Airports. The country became divided into yellow shirts (PAD protesters) and red shirts (pro-government PPP supporters), and the confrontation raged on until December 2. The Suvarnabhumi airport was re-opened only two days ago; calm is only beginning to return to Bangkok. Thus, the Thailand story is about people's power and the strength of the opposition. In Nigeria, the people are becoming battle-weary where partisan politics is involved. They have no faith in politicians of any colour. They have since concluded that all politicians are dishonest. The political opposition is more or less dead, except for the Action Congress (AC) which remains vocal on the pages of newspapers. From Thailand, the lesson is that the people have a responsibility to defend their mandate. The Thais drove one Prime Minister out of office after eight months and the second one after three months. It is only the ruling of the Constitutional Court that has now brought peace. About eight people were killed, 737 were injured in the course of the anti-government rallies by the PAD and the pro-government counter-rallies by the PPP red shirts. While the storm raged, Thailand seemed to have been in the grips of anarchy.

Part of the lesson for Nigeria would include Constitutional amendment. Political and economic corruption have been encouraged in no small measure by the existence of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution which grants immunity to certain categories of public officers., and sends a wrong signal of encouragement to other officials down the ladder. There was no immunity clause in the 1960 Constitution. In 1963, it existed, but covered only the President and the Governors in the regions, these were ceremonial positions. The Prime Minister at the centre and the Premiers in the regions did not enjoy any immunity. It was later in the 1979 Constitution, in Section 267, that the President, the Vice President, the Governors and Deputy Governors were granted immunity from prosecution. Its retention in the 1999 Constitution has not helped. The Constitution Review Committee should remove it. The Constitutional Court in Thailand said it wanted "to set a political standard and an example." It added that "dishonest political parties undermine Thailand's democratic system". Punishment is prescribed for election riggers in the Nigerian Electoral Act and other extant laws. The courts must go beyond nullifying election results and sanction electoral offenders.

Beyond this, the ruling government must realise that the best way to enforce the rule of law is to discourage and punish its violation. One other lesson from Thailand is that no man, or group, can be above the rule of law. The international trend is for corrupt leaders to be sanctioned. Politicians everywhere seem to belong to the same family of greed and indecency. World leaders who have been convicted at one time or the other for corruption include Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and his wife, Imelda, Frederick Chiluba, former President of Zambia, General Suharto of Indonesia and his son, Tommy and Chile's Augusto Pinochet. Nigerians would like to see many of their former and current leaders, politicians and civil servants alike, in jail, not on the national honours list.

Robot  # 1 | 07.12.2008 10:31

Lessons From Thailand By Reuben Abati Two momentous events occurred in Thailand recently which ought to provide useful lessons for Nigeria. Former Prime Minister of Thailand, 2001 - 2006, Thaksin Shinawatra was sentenced by the Supreme Court of Thailand for Political Office Holders, to two years in prison for abuse of office, (awarding state contracts and assets to himself and his wife). Thaksin ran away to England in 2006 following his ouster in a coup plot on September 19, 2006. The reason given for his removal was simply corruption, an issue that was investigated and confirmed by the Thai Assets Investigation Committee. Thaksin himself would confirm the findings of this committee, perhaps unwittingly, when in exile, he bought the English Football club, Manchester City for a whopping sum of 168 million pounds. He later sold the club to an Arab money bag. Second, the protests that attended the December 2007 elec...Read the full article.

Dewdrops  # 2 | 08.12.2008 00:59

=Robot;297806> While Thailand is strengthening its institutions for fighting corruption and the Thai judiciary is upholding the rule of law, Nigeria is showing complete lack of seriousness in the same regard. The country's former anti-corruption czar, Nuhu Ribadu is under so much assault and facing heavy harassment from both known and shadowy forces that he has now had to go underground to protect himself from assassins who are said to be hot on his trail. A former Prime Minister has been convicted for corruption in Thailand. In Nigeria, there is no former President or Governor or Deputy Governor, between 1999 and 2007 who has been convicted, jailed or sanctioned for corruption, except perhaps former Bayelsa state Governor, Diepreye Alamiyeseigha but even he is in the process of rehabilitation. He insists that he is a victim of political vendetta. He is a very close friend of the present government where his former Deputy, who still calls him oga is the Vice President. Thaksin ran a company, Shinawatra and Co, which evaded tax, did government contracts, and bought government land. In Nigeria, government officials do worse things. What did you expect?:rolleyes: Please enough of this piece of crap called Ribadu. Let me concentrate on the lessons learned. Part of the lesson for Nigeria would include Constitutional amendment. Political and economic corruption have been encouraged in no small measure by the existence of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution which grants immunity to certain categories of public officers., and sends a wrong signal of encouragement to other officials down the ladder. There was no immunity clause in the 1960 Constitution. In 1963, it existed, but covered only the President and the Governors in the regions, these were ceremonial positions. The Prime Minister at the centre and the Premiers in the regions did not enjoy any immunity. It was later in the 1979 Constitution, in Section 267, that the President, the Vice President, the Governors and Deputy Governors were granted immunity from prosecution. Its retention in the 1999 Constitution has not helped. The Constitution Review Committee should remove it. The Constitutional Court in Thailand said it wanted "to set a political standard and an example." It added that "dishonest political parties undermine Thailand's democratic system". Punishment is prescribed for election riggers in the Nigerian Electoral Act and other extant laws. The courts must go beyond nullifying election results and sanction electoral offenders. Beyond this, the ruling government must realise that the best way to enforce the rule of law is to discourage and punish its violation. One other lesson from Thailand is that no man, or group, can be above the rule of law. The international trwho have been convicted at one time or the other for corruption include Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines and his wife, Imelda, Frederick Chiluba, former President of Zambia, General Suharto of Indonesia and his son, Tommy and Chile's Augusto Pinochet. Nigerians would like to see many of their former and current leaders, politicians and civil servants alike, in jail, not on the national honours list.end is for corrupt leaders to be sanctioned. Politicians everywhere seem to belong to the same family of greed and indecency. Most certainly.......we need to go back in history and send ALL those corrupt war criminals to Jail....... ALL or NOTHING I say. Enough is enough!

Ranter  # 3 | 08.12.2008 01:26

Oga Reuben, Mr Thaksin used to be Barrack Obama around here,and is still a sort of hero to a lot of folks, if he comes back to run for office now or in 20 years time, he will still win in a landslide.Think about That. His mates won the the last general election free and fair.In a democracy, its the people that get to chose their leaders by ballot,they can chose whoever they deem fit to lead them. Do not paint this as a revolution by the people, Thailand is a land of 66 million people,and the revolution that you attribute to the masses is just by the PAD, a group of not more than 30 thousand well 'connected' people. Dont rest yet your pen yet,because the real drama is about to unfold. Reading up a bit of Thai history might help to really appreciate what is going on. Most Thais get their news of the protests from CNN, because the local press is very picky about going into details,no one is saying much but everyone knows whats going on. Its like settling a personal conflict in a public domain.

charles4u  # 4 | 09.12.2008 11:17

=Dewdrops;297948>What did you expect?:rolleyes: Please enough of this piece of crap called Ribadu. Let me concentrate on the lessons learned. Most certainly.......we need to go back in history and send ALL those corrupt war criminals to Jail....... ALL or NOTHING I say. Enough is enough! So how and when my sister ?

Dewdrops  # 5 | 09.12.2008 11:33

=charles4u;298442>So how and when my sister ? I say we should march in protest to the UN you disagreed, So I am waiting for y'all to come up with yours so I can help you out. I am done thinking since my proposed solution is not appealing. Let me sit and watch then.:D

charles4u  # 6 | 09.12.2008 11:56

=Dewdrops;298450>I say we should march in protest to the UN you disagreed, So I am waiting for y'all to come up with yours so I can help you out. I am done thinking since my proposed solution is not appealing. Let me sit and watch then.:D Its not so and I didnt dis-agree, I only said they dont have so much power to take over a country and most expecially a country like Nigeria. Look at the case, Nigeria is over populated, naturally rich with resources and there several powerful connected people who will even wish all this continues just for their selfish interest. They are all connected to the UN level, But they cant over come the public and other ministries and organisations involve. Again even if UN wants to do anything, They will only make a proposal or make a meeting to resolve the issue with Nigeria leaders which will still result to same issue. They dont have power to wildraw only if the society or citizens wants. I am just making it clear to u that Nigerians are the main people who can do it but in support of foriegn affairs (maybe UN, and others), But citizens have to come together first then get a support like a backup from this foriegn ministries or organisations.

Dewdrops  # 7 | 10.12.2008 01:55

=charles4u;298465>Its not so and I didnt dis-agree, I only said they dont have so much power to take over a country and most expecially a country like Nigeria. Look at the case, Nigeria is over populated, naturally rich with resources and there several powerful connected people who will even wish all this continues just for their selfish interest. They are all connected to the UN level, But they cant over come the public and other ministries and organisations involve. Again even if UN wants to do anything, They will only make a proposal or make a meeting to resolve the issue with Nigeria leaders which will still result to same issue. They dont have power to wildraw only if the society or citizens wants. I am just making it clear to u that Nigerians are the main people who can do it but in support of foriegn affairs (maybe UN, and others), But citizens have to come together first then get a support like a backup from this foriegn ministries or organisations. Great then...No hope I guess. Is it not the same few "selected" individuals ruling this same over-populated country with UN connections in Nigeria now?...IBB/OBJ.....the Mugabes of Nigeria? How many individuals are actually holding Nigeria to ransom? So like I said....let us hear your own solutions out of the mess. But citizens have to come together first then get a support like a backup from this foriegn ministries or organisations. I think you are double dribbling.. How is this different from what I proposed? We all come together and march to the UN for support. After the Ribadu debacle...I cannot trust anything in anyway, shape or form of a Nigerian-led government. Too much tribalistic treachery and duplicity.

charles4u  # 8 | 10.12.2008 10:36

=Dewdrops;298636>Great then...No hope I guess. Is it not the same few "selected" individuals ruling this same over-populated country with UN connections in Nigeria now?...IBB/OBJ.....the Mugabes of Nigeria? How many individuals are actually holding Nigeria to ransom? So like I said....let us hear your own solutions out of the mess. I think you are double dribbling.. How is this different from what I proposed? We all come together and march to the UN for support. After the Ribadu debacle...I cannot trust anything in anyway, shape or form of a Nigerian-led government. Too much tribalistic treachery and duplicity. First I will say there is always HOPE when it comes to situations in life, Secondly I understand your points and reasons. I would say am not double dribbling, I just know a bit more on this political games and have a bit idea on how things are being handle when its base on political issue such as Nigeria. UN will only make letters to the Nigeria authorities for enquiry and they will only talk on how it can be resolve. NOTE: UN cant wildraw or take any leader from power, They are meant to settle, unite and support countries. NOTE: Nobody (no country's citizens) ever used UN to help them resolve their political problems, If you note that most countries (citizens) demand or make their saying on their own then maybe UN and other foreign organisations supports. As you also know that this is the way it as always being when citizens wants to stand for their right and for a change to be done. They did it previously in THAILAND and if you watch EURONEWS or CNN you will see its happening presently in GREECE (they also want their prime minister to step down cus the government wants to create private universities and they are also complaining that there is a huge gap between rich and poor...which means money is not flowing to all citizens). OK we all match to UN for support ..Let me ask you some questions ? 1) What do we match to UN to complain about ? 2) What will we ask the UN to do for us ? 2) What do you personally expect or think the UN will do (to Nigerian government of political leaders) ? 4) How fast or when do you think the UN will react ?

dakcee  # 9 | 10.12.2008 17:03

Thank you Reuben for this incisive comparison.

charles4u  # 10 | 10.12.2008 23:13

I am waiting for your anwsers "Dewdrops" OK we all match to UN for support ..Let me ask you some questions ? 1) What do we match to UN to complain about ? 2) What will we ask the UN to do for us ? 2) What do you personally expect or think the UN will do (to Nigerian government of political leaders) ? 4) How fast or when do you think the UN will react ?

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